Institute for Research of Genocide Canada asks US Embassy in Sarajevo to apologize for the statement about General Alagić.
Institute for Research of Genocide Canada asks the United States Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Michael Murphy, to apologize for his statement, in which he said that the monument to the RBiH Army General Mehmed Alagić was an insult.
08. O9. 2024
His Excellency Michael J Murphy
Ambassador of the United States of America to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sarajevo
Your Excellency,
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 11, states:
“Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.”
Under this legal principle, the legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which must present compelling evidence to the trier of fact. Until then, the person is considered innocent.
General Mehmed Alagić was never found guilty of the war crimes he was accused of.
You stated that it is an insult to construct a monument for the general Mehmed Alagic.
The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty.
Your statement suggests that either you don’t understand the basics of law or you don’t regard General Mehmed Alagić as a person.
General Mehmed Alagić died an innocent man.
There is a plaque at the entrance to Sarajevo honoring the convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić, who is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Bosniaks.
You never said a word about it, although it was in the media this same year when the court in RS fined two individuals nearly three thousand euros for damaging a plaque at Vrace near Sarajevo.
You did not mention the erection of a monument to fascists near Mostar, and the project is being carried out with the participation of the Republic of Croatia, which has been convicted of a joint criminal enterprise (JCE) and is, in this drastic way, violating the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
There is a discrepancy here: silence regarding a convicted war criminal and condemnation directed at an innocent Bosniak.
This raises suspicion that you may be an Islamophobe.
We hope that this is not the case. It would be very easy for you to demonstrate that you are not an Islamophobe and that you do regard General Mehmed Alagić a person:
apologize for your statement about General Alagić, condemn the plaque honoring the war criminal Ratko Mladić, and request its removal.
Apologize for the statement regarding General Mehmed Alagić.
Condemn the plaque honoring Ratko Mladić.
Request the removal of the plaque honoring a convicted war criminal.
These actions would reaffirm a commitment to impartiality and respect for human rights.
The citizens of this country deserve better!
The Institute for Research of Genocide Canada
The Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide
